Helguson helps speed Reading's sad descent

Both of these teams are in the sludge. Neither of them having won since Christmas, they dropped into the primordial swamp that begins just above Birmingham. But after a game that Bolton won despite missing a penalty it is Reading who have slipped deeper into the quagmire. They are not a bad side, but they showed little heart and will need to show plenty more spirit if they are to struggle to safety.

Bolton, meanwhile, even without Nicolas Anelka, look as if they are capable of always doing just enough. They are too disciplined to go down.

'We needed inspiration, but it was sadly lacking,' said Reading boss Steve Coppell. 'It is not the kind of performance which gives us confidence in the future. They were bigger than us right across the park. It wasn't so long ago that the England goalkeeper was five foot seven. Now if you're five seven you're playing under-14s.'

'We can play a lot better,' said his Bolton counterpart Gary Megson. 'There was a great deal of apprehension and tension because we are where we are.'

Reading started fluently, with Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle threatening on the flanks and stretching Bolton. The visitors threatened not a jot until, with little danger apparent, Marek Matejovsky tripped Gretar Steinsson on the corner of the area and a penalty was awarded. Taylor struck it cleanly, but Marcus Hahnemann guessed correctly and dived well to beat it away.

The game came to life. There was argy-bargy between Ivan Campo and Hunt - perms at 10 paces. And after it was resolved, Jussi Jaaskelainen took the free-kick from inside his own half that eluded everyone except for Kevin Nolan, who swept it into the net.

A second goal nearly followed when a neat ball from Steinsson played Heidar Helguson in, but he shot directly at Hahnemann. Reading had stopped playing, they had gone behind and given up. Such spineless behaviour does not bode well for the forthcoming relegation battle.

Reading briefly revived in the second half, with Nicky Shorey corners causing confusion and their wingers coming back into the game. It did not do them any good. A Taylor shot was deflected off Graeme Murty to Helguson, who had timed his run perfectly and prodded the ball past Hahnemann. Just as Reading had reawoken, they had been knocked back down again.

This time they made an effort to get up, with Shorey careering forward down the right and forcing another series of corners which discomforted Bolton without harming them. The ball bobbled this way and that, but never ended up goalwards.

The full complement of substitutes were employed with the disappointing Dave Kitson, touted in some quarters as a possible Capello selection for England, among those to come off early. Even if the fans had come on, it probably would not have made a difference, so comfortable were Bolton.

Before their dismal run began, Reading appeared safe in 12th place. Now they are deep in the mire, reliant on a late Derby equaliser at Birmingham to keep them out of the relegation zone.

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

Mike Robson, Observer reader We looked very nervous and instead of playing football we tried to play Bolton at their own game - and they're better at it. There was no pattern to our game at all. I think we're nervous about the situation we're in and we didn't strengthen in the right areas during the transfer window - we need a defender and an attacker. We started reasonably, but Bolton had begun to take control before they scored. I'd hate to watch them play the way they do every week, but they are very effective. We played well against Manchester United and Chelsea recently and lost, but we were poor this time.

Dave Blackburn, Bolton Supporters' Association PR We played very well, with Helguson giving us two up front with Davies, and we were still solid at the back, where Cahill had a great debut alongside Andy O'Brien. Taylor's penalty was not the best and was a good height for the keeper, but he kept his head up afterwards and we kept on having chances throughout the first half. We then weathered the Reading storm in the first 15 minutes after the interval and we were in control after that. We deserved to win and although Portsmouth next week at the Reebok will be a tougher game, if we take our good form from this match into that we should be fine.